Day-Of Login Information and Event Links:

We are offering this Conference online via Remo Conference. For an optimum online experience, we recommend you log on with a personal computer using Chrome or Firefox web browsers. You may check your system ahead of time by clicking here.

We will be using two virtual rooms for the Conference. We will transition from Room 1 to Room 2 after Session 2 at 11:00AM Central Time. If you are joining us part way through the seminar, please be sure to use the correct link.

• Click here for 7:30AM to 11:00AM Central Time

• Click here for 11:00AM to 3:00PM Central Time

CLE: 6.25 Hours of General Credit (approved)

CLE credit is extended to Illinois attorneys only. Attorneys who need CLE from other states are welcome to apply to their jurisdictions on their own. The extension of CLE credit is subject to each states approval.

Attendance will be taken through the online login system. Attendees who do not attend the full conference, will receive partial credit.

Donate to the Center:

If you would like to donate to the IP Center, you may do so at https://give.jmls.uic.edu/. Please choose "Centers of Excellence" under search "Option 2" and then "UIC Center for Intellectual Property Law."

Program Schedule

7:30 a.m. | Virtual Room Opens

7:40 a.m. | Welcome

Christian Thomas, Partner, Kuhnen & Wacker

Matthias Reischle-Park, Deputy Director & Head, PCT Legal Division, Patents & Technology Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization

7:45 – 9:15 a.m. | Session 1

Key Developments in International Trademark & Design Law & Policy

Topics include IP developments in the cannabis industry, TTAB’s Precedential No. 24; Booking.com; Hague Agreement issues regarding Brexit and China’s (eventual) accession; international harmonization and simplification of design application procedures; EUIPO issues regarding bad faith and cannabis marks; protection of country names against unauthorized registration as trademarks; Madrid Protocol Concerning the International Registration of Marks.

Moderator: Christian Thomas, Partner, Kuhnen & Wacker

• Christopher V. Carani, Shareholder, McAndrews, Held & Malloy
• Jess Honculada, Head, Hague Development and Promotion Section, The Hague Registry, Brands and Designs Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization
• Marcus Höpperger, Director, Department for Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications, Brands and Designs Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization
• Gordon Humphreys, Chairperson, First Board of Appeal, European Union Intellectual Property Office
• R. Peter Spies, Partner, DTL Ltd.

9:15 – 9:30 a.m. | Featured Speaker

“Rethinking International IP Practice in the Post-COVID World”

Stanley Lai, SC, Chairman, IP Office of Singapore; Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP

Introduction: Daryl Lim, Professor of Law & Director, Center for IP, Information and Privacy Law, UIC John Marshall Law School

9:30 – 11:00 a.m. | Session 2

Key Developments in International Patent & Trade Secret Law & Policy

Topics include additive manufacturing and its challenge to the IP system; "sufficient" disclosure; the “problem-solution” approach; developments in computer-implemented inventions; business method/technical inventions; developments in Chinese patent law; trade secrets in Europe and Asia; changes to the law of breach of confidence in Singapore; treatment of inventive step and its growing interaction with sufficiency under UK and Singapore law

Moderator: James A. Forstner, Of Counsel, Kuhnen & Wacker

• Stanley Lai, SC, Chairman, IP Office of Singapore; Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLC
• Roberta Romano-Götsch, Chief Operating Officer, European Patent Office
• Marcus J. Thymian, Partner, McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
• Jerry Xia, Partner, AnJie Law Firm
• Michael Zeitler, Partner, Kuhnen & Wacker

11:00 – 11:30 a.m. | Virtual Reception

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Session 3

Strategies for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Fillings

Topics include obstacles to be aware of when filing PCT designating the EPO, options in securing protection in the US; pandemic-related remedies at the Japan Patent Office, and priority restoration in China; Russian perspectives on PCT practice.

Moderator: Matthias Reischle-Park, Deputy Director & Head, PCT Legal Division, Patents & Technology Sector, World Intellectual Property Organization

• Kazuhiro Nomura, Patent Attorney, NOA IP Law Firm
• Yuri Kuznetsov, Head of Patent Practice, Gorodissky & Partners
• John Richards, Of Counsel, Ladas & Parry LLP
• Detlef von Ahsen, Partner, Kuhnen & Wacker
• Peter Zhang, Attorney, Linda Liu & Partners

1:00 – 2:30 p.m. | Session 4

International IP Practice in a Post-COVID World

Moderator: James A. Forstner, Of Counsel, Kuhnen & Wacker

Topics include use of online tools in ADR procedures, prioritization of IP on a reduced budget, how has remote work has affected law firm operations, IP acquisitions, changes to EPO processes, how COVID-19 might provide a basis of excusable non-use of trademarks for such matters as incontestability and abandonment; a Chinese perspective on U.S.-China IP practice in turbulent times.

• Albert Keyack, Vice President, Kilburn & Strode LLP
• Li Lan, Partner, AnJie Law Firm
• Marshall Leaffer, Distinguished Scholar in Intellectual Property Law & University Fellow, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
• Kenneth L. Ng, Partner, Chang Tsi & Partners
• Adam Rattray, Head, Information and External Relations Section at Arbitration and Mediation Center, World Intellectual Property Organization

2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks/ Virtual Reception

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Consent For Video Recording and Transcription:

Please contact kserill@uic.edu with any inquiries about this event or to apply for a needs-based scholarship.